Sanctuary
by Ciel In A Dress
Summary: Kaoru didn't feel right, but he didn't know why.


**A/N: So maybe it's not entirely normal to come up with a sad story like this after watching an extremely hilarious episode of Ouran High School Host Club… But come up with it, I did; and so I wrote it down, completely disregarding the fact that I had a maths test to study for.**

**Sanctuary  
**

The day was like any other, I guess.

When I arrived home from school, however, there was _something_ different. Looking around, I saw that everything was how I had left it that morning. But it still felt different. Maybe it was something in the air, or just a feeling, but I knew something had changed.

And I knew it was something I wouldn't like.

I dreaded walking into my bedroom, not knowing what I was afraid of, but just feeling that something was off. Nobody was home except the servants. That, too, was normal. Hikaru always had soccer practice after school on Tuesdays, so I wasn't expecting him until later. Everything was as it should be.

So why was I so afraid?

I began shaking as I searched the house from top to bottom, looking for some difference. But, of course, there was nothing.

I sat in a chair in one of our theatres and tried to calm myself, to no avail. I told myself that it was my imagination; one too many horror movies, perhaps. But I could still feel it.

It was hovering just outside of my consciousness, telling me something that I couldn't hear. I turned on a movie in the hopes of distracting myself from this feeling that I'd never felt before. It worked for a while, but then the feeling was back, nagging at the back of my mind.

Glancing at the digital clock hanging on the wall, I felt a jolt of surprise when I saw that it was past five. Usually, Hikaru would be home by now. It worried me greatly that he wasn't.

I was hit by surprise yet again as the doorbell rang, shrill and demanding. After telling myself that it was just someone at the door, nothing to be afraid of and certainly no reason to make my heart beat at twice its usual rate, I walked over to answer it. A servant rushed ahead of me, but I waved her away. I was fully capable of opening a door.

I briefly entertained myself with the idea that it might be Hikaru on the other side of that door, but I shook my head, dispelling the thought. Hikaru has a key; he would never ring the doorbell.

I paused for a second, hesitating and procrastinating. When I finally opened the door, I was greeted by Haruhi. The sight of her instantly brightened my day.

After Haruhi lost her scholarship to Ouran High School, she went to a public school, so me and the other members of the host club didn't get to see her very often. All apart from Hikaru, who just so happened to be on the same soccer team as her. In remembering this, I felt my heart drop out of my chest.

She was here and Hikaru wasn't.

"Haruhi…" I said, hoping, just hoping that there was a perfectly normal explanation for her to be here. Perhaps Hikaru went somewhere and asked Haruhi to tell me he wouldn't be home for a while?

"Kaoru." My hopes were dashed as I saw sadness in her eyes, seconds before she dropped my gaze and stared at the ground. "I—I have some bad news."

"No…" I didn't want to hear it. I'd had this bad feeling within me for hours now; I refused to believe that it had a reason to be there.

I stepped away from the doorway, retreating into the darkness that was the shadow of the stairs, suddenly afraid of Haruhi. No, not fearing Haruhi, but her words. I knew it was coming and really didn't want it to. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. I saw the steel determination in there that my brother so admired. She wasn't going to lie to me.

"Kaoru…" Her voice broke, and she walked right up to me, taking my hands in hers, and looking at me directly. It was worse than when she had avoided my gaze. "Hikaru's going to die."

She hugged me, her tears flowing freely, but I was in shock. I numbly wrapped my arms around her as she tried to comfort me, despite the fact that she was the one crying.

I didn't believe her, I decided. It was impossible. She had to be wrong. I held onto this hope for a while before she pulled herself together enough to explain to me what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, Kaoru." She sniffed, looking up at me. "Hikaru was late to practice, so the coach asked me to try his mobile phone, but he didn't answer." Haruhi's voice was strong, and she didn't falter, nor hesitate. I didn't want to know, but I knew I had to hear it.

"I went looking for him and he was—"Haruhi sobbed and closed her eyes. I said nothing, waiting. After a moment, Haruhi continued, "He was lying by the side of the road…" She hugged me again, sobbing uncontrollably. She didn't need to continue; I could figure out the rest.

Hikaru had been hit by a car, and the car had just kept going. The driver hadn't stopped to call an ambulance for my brother, or to tell someone about it. Nobody found him for another twenty minutes, and by then, it was almost too late. He was still alive—but not for much longer.

We rushed to the hospital, Haruhi and I. The head servant had informed my mother and father, but they were overseas, and even leaving as soon as they got the phone call, they probably wouldn't make it back in time.

"There's no surgery that can fix this; most of his major organs are failing. He was lying there in pain for so long without any help. His heart won't hold out for the rest of the night. It's a miracle it lasted this long…" The doctor kept speaking as we continued to walk towards Hikaru, but I could no longer hear him. Haruhi stood next to the bed with the doctor, her hands balled into fists, and crying again. I leaned over Hikaru's sleeping face, taking his hands in mine.

"Hikaru," I whispered. "Hikaru, can you hear me?"

"It's common for patients in a coma to be able to hear what's going on around them," the doctor was saying. I stopped listening again, looking at the scrape across the left side of Hikaru's face. There were undoubtedly more injuries hidden under the blankets, but I didn't want to see. We were no longer identical.

"I love you, Hikaru," I reminded him, my tears falling onto his face. I wrapped my arms around him, telling him again that I love him.

We were interrupted by a loud bang as Tamaki, Kyoya, Hunny, and Mori all ran into the room with such force that the door slammed into the wall. I looked at them for a second, then turned back to Hikaru.

"Hikaru, please don't die," I begged him quietly, wishing the room was empty. But they wouldn't leave even if I asked; they loved Hikaru, too.

"H—Hikaru..." Tamaki's voice was full of shock as he went to stand next to Haruhi, taking her hand. I knew I should've been furious at Tamaki for holding the hand of the girl Hikaru loved while he was dying in front of us, but I was only numb.

Kyoya sighed, and I wondered if he was really sad or if he was just thinking of how the host club's profits would fall with one less member. Mori was silent and Hunny was crying. I began to wonder if any of them really cared. Did they even understand what Hikaru was to me?

"Hikaru, I'm sorry I wasn't there," I told him. "I should be lying here next to you."

"No, you shouldn't!" Haruhi protested loudly. "Do you think Hikaru would want you to die, too? I know he can be at least a little bit happy now, just because you're still alive!"

I ignored her. Nobody else in the room said anything.

My heart was ripped in two. The part that could feel was within Hikaru. And there it remained, in a safe sanctuary.

I told my twin over and over that I loved him. Even when his heart finally stopped beating, I kept telling him. Even when my parents finally arrived, seeing it was over, and trying to comfort me, I told him.

Even when I was lying in bed that night, alone and broken, I told him.

"I love you, Hikaru."

Nobody ever mistook me for him again.

* * *

**A/N: I finally finished it! **


End file.
